As telephony technologies have developed over the years, many and varied services have developed in association therewith. Caller identification and location determination are two such services that have found use in both wired and wireless telephone technologies in filling both pubic and private sector needs.
In the public sector, for example, the late 1960s saw the beginnings of an implementation of an emergency response system (ERS). The ERS automatically associated a call to a public safety answering point (PSAP) (such as a police station, sheriff's office, state patrol, or regional public safety office) the location of the telephone originating the call through telephone company records. In this way, the location of an emergency could typically be precisely located, thereby facilitating faster responses by emergency personnel, in many if not the large majority of instances. In the United States, this system is implemented by dialing 9-1-1 though other number combinations are in use elsewhere around the world. For example, member states of the European Union use 1-1-2.
At the time of the implementation of the emergency response system, only a very small percentage of telephones were not hard wired into the telephone system. That is, there were very few wireless telephones in use. The increasing proliferation of mobile wireless communication devices has complicated this early conception of the 911 system, however. Since such devices are not anchored to a single location, calls placed with early versions of those devices had no definite location associated with the incoming calls. These emergency calls would be routed to some emergency response agency, such as a state highway patrol agency in the United States, who would ask the caller for location information so that the appropriate emergency response personnel could be dispatched to the location. Such an operational emergency response methodology relied upon the caller being able to provide accurate location information. Where the caller was a child, an injured party, or someone who was lost, for example, determining the location to which emergency personnel should be directed was often problematic.
Over time, and particularly as many individuals fled from wired telephone connections to wireless technologies for residential telephone services, a need was seen for providing automatic location information of a wireless device originating an emergency call to a PSAP. Currently, there are many technologies and methodologies available to determine the location of a wireless device with varying degrees of accuracy. The most accurate of these utilizes the global positioning system (GPS), which uses signals from satellites to determine the location of the wireless device to within a few meters.
Newer technologies have once again complicated the ERS system, though. Portable, but not mobile, wireless modems are becoming available for accessing the Internet. These modems are intended to solve what has become known in the United States as the “last mile” problem—a lack of high speed connections to the Internet over short distances, principally from residences and businesses, in lieu of proprietary fixed wire technologies such as digital subscriber lines (commonly known as DSL) or cable.
This new wireless modem technology is being developed by several industry leaders and goes by various names, including Wi-MAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), which is being developed pursuant to the IEEE 802.16 standard, and 3GPP LTE (3d Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution), both of which are ultimately expected to be known as 4G or fourth generation wireless communications technologies.
Wireless modems, whether of the Wi-MAX or 3GPP LTE variety will typically include wireless routers to establish local area networks and to enable other computers to access the Internet also. These modems also often include telephone jacks capable of accepting connections from standard telephones. In such cases, voice communications are sent as data packets using Voice over Internet Protocol, commonly referred to as VoIP. In addition, the modems may include wireless connections to other mobile devices, such as telephones or computers, as well as wired connections to such devices or other household and business appliances.
One of the consequences of the use of such modems is that 9-1-1 emergency telephone calls are now being place through these modems using either wired or wireless telephones in communication therewith. While GPS could be of use to determine the location of the modems, the modems are often placed indoors to facilitate communications between the modem and other wireless devices connecting to the Internet through the modem. Regardless of the precise location of the modem within a building, reception of GPS signals can be troublesome and, more often than not, is insufficient to be used in location determinations. Thus, to enable emergency responders to be able to find emergency locations, users of this type of equipment are required to register an address where the modem is to be used. When an emergency call is received, then, the registered address of the modem can be associated with the call and emergency response personnel appropriately dispatched.
Difficulties arise with the foregoing procedure, however, since the portable nature of the modems means they may be moved from the registered address. Users are supposed to update the registered address if the modem is moved, but this does not always happen, particularly if the move is temporary, such as taking the modem along for a vacation. In such a circumstance emergency responders may be sent to the registered address when the call is in fact originating tens, hundreds, or even thousands of miles away from the registered address. Another methodology must be used in such circumstances to determine the location of the modem so the appropriate service providers can be sent to the proper location.
As noted above, the private sector has also made widespread and varied use of telephone service such as caller identification and location determination, Many organizations, particularly delivery services such as pizza delivery businesses, have come to rely upon being able to immediately associate a location with an incoming telephone call. Thus, while there is an obvious concern in being able to provide services in life-threatening situations, the private sector has also been impacted by the use of these wireless modems. The use of these wireless modems could result in deliveries to the registered address rather than the address from where a call was actually placed, leading to unhappy customers and wasted business resources.
Overview
There is disclosed herein a method for operating a communication system wherein the method comprises receiving a communication transmitted by a wireless modem, wherein the modem has a modem identifier and a registered address associated therewith and wherein the communication includes the modem identifier; associating with the communication a receiving base station identifier of the base station that first received the communication, and determining whether the base station first receiving the communication is located within a predetermined proximity of the registered address.
There is also disclosed herein a communications system for associating a location with a wireless modem, wherein the modem has a modem identifier and a registered address associated therewith, and wherein the system comprises a processing system including a storage system, software for directing operation of the processing system, a communications interface, and a user interface, the processing system configured to receive a communication transmitted by the modem, wherein the communication includes the modem identifier, and to determine whether the base station first receiving the communication is located within a predetermined proximity of the registered address.